DAVE THE DEMOCRAT!

NZ Truth, Issue 218, 28 August 1909, Page 1

DAVE THE DEMOCRAT!

WHARF-WORKERS AND THEIR WOES.

Since City Councillor McLaren became, per the accident of the Second Ballot, the representative m Parliament, m Labor interests, of Wellington East, Davy the erstwhile democrat has become a changed man. - These changes , are pronounced, nor do they portend great and everlasting good lor the masses whose interests the plausible 'little Scot professes to have • so deeply at Jheart. David is practically assured of an income of £5.6 per week for the next three years, and though he has hardly had time to make his Parliamentary mark, he has said and done enough to indicate that he is rail-strad-dling. He has displayed a decided antipathy .to the Ward Administration, he has shown a tendency to flirt with Massey, and there is reason to suppose that when Parliament next assembles Davy the dubious Democrat, having, a la Russell, Lowell's , pious, .,. carpet-bag editor, perceived the thing that has "a solid yally," will -be , found, if not a straightout Massey mugwump, then a joint m the Opposition' tail- Davy, it can be taken from "Truth," requires a great deal of watching. True, as far as Parliamentary experience , is concerned, he is but a novice. He perceives possibly that he has been sent .to Parliament by a constituency that tolerated "Mary Ann" Aitken, a melancholy, wall-eyed wowser, who saw no good, m Scddonism, who led an indecent raid of hooligans on Parliament assembled, and who generally could not at any time .be considered as being m. sym-. patlry-' with the Liberal policy of Sir Joseph' Ward.. It is by hoisting ;the banner of Labor that David McLaren hopes to hoodwink and chouse the working man.Labor is as good a subterfuge, as anything else for furthering his, political ends. Are the ends he has m. view the. righting of the wrongs of the: masses? - As straws indicate the wind, so -does McLaren's presessibnal conduct presuppose m him an act of traitorism andrenegadisni to the cause of Labor. Lately m Wellington there has been Held a Conference of ■ Waterside Workers, at which deiegatss Irom all over New Zealand atteaded. That Conference was nothing if not remarkable m the extraordinary scenes that occurred, m whicn McLaren, Labor M.P., and Secretary of the Wellington Union, and the delegates of the locaF branch of the' Federation came into dire conflict, the end coming- when A the Conference m committee carried, it is de-> dared unanimously, the following resolution :— That the Conference ask. Mr McCanri and Mr Jones to retire, on the ground that they have obstructed the business, misrepresented their union, and are injuring the interests of their own Federation. • The "obstruction of business" and "the misrepresentation of their union" consist^ ed wholly m that Messrs McCann and 'Jones had strongly and pertinently objected to McLaren foisting -and forcing Himself upon the Conference^ m the capacity of paid secretary of the union and delegate, as Mr McLaren declared himself to be, "ex-officio." Now, several times during the Conference, Mr Jones,, one of the Wellington delegates, had, as he saw fit, and proper to do, indulged m some strong and emphatic language. To this the delectable David had objected. David the Democrat, with a fine regard to the ethics, condemned the use of ■ harsh terms applied to trade monopolies. In fact, it seemed that mealy-mouthed McLaren wanted the Conference run on respectful Y.M.CA. lines. The wonder to "Truth" is that Davy did not move to open the proceedings with prayer. However, with the good, bad, or indifferent results attained by this Conference this paper is not at present concerned, what its ob-ject-is is to show how Davy the Democrat has degenerated. Now, the delegates elected by the Wellington branch of the Waterside Workers of N.Z. were Messrs Bruton, McCann and Jones. McLaren's position was not recognised. As paid •secretary, at the rate of £3 pet week, he was expected to attend the Conference to assist and advise the selected delegates. McLaren, however, seems to have set about to rule the roost. He exercised a power of voting that the elected delegates questioned, and this .led to. many disorderly scenes. All sorts of objections were raised against McLaren, but the most pertinent point put to McLaren, and whicn it was endeavored to have, explained both at Union meetings and at Sfce Conference, was why action had not been taken against the Harbor Board and (the V.S f Sf .Co. iv coßfflQcttoa with the

over-loading, of slings on the s.s. Maori. There was, it seems, a breach of an award, inasmuch as the slings were overloaded by as much as two cwt. It was sought to be shown that, this ,. flagrant breach of an award was brought under IMcLaren's notice as . .of the = union, and that no action-was taken by him, and that when subsequently ■ cornered he endeavored to throw the onus ', on . the assistant secretary, Mr Tom Smith, McLaren was mercilessly badgered lor his. alleged negligent attention to his duties, and this, it is held, accounted for his desire to have "Jones and McCann banished from the Conference. ■ ■ ■ • • ■-"■ :• It is farther alleged that as secretary ol the union, McLaren was lax, very lax or lazy m reporting breaches of awards. Meeting after meeting of the union, it is said, he was questioned as to whether he had any report to make on these matters, but each time he answered No. He has been informed of breaches of the award- on board the s.s. Indravelli which was m Wellington loading timber. On ' that vessel slings carrying from 15 cwt to 21 cwt were hoisted, and as the award states that as near as practicable 12 cwt shall be carried by the slings, here was a grievious breach. The matter was reported to McLaren, but he either refused or forgot to report to the Labor Inspector. These breaches ol the award, ! the immunity of the Harbor Board and of the U.S.S. Co.. from v he,ing y cited, and McLaren's laxity to report all formed subject for strong comment, at .the Con-, fererice. The Wellington; delegates deprer cated McLaren's 1 Kigh-hbrse; attitude/ and the Conference being mainly ; composed of paid officials ' of various" unibriSj stuck to McLaren, and as has been pointed out, at an opportune moment/ decided to get rid of the unruly Wellington delegates, who, laboring under a genuine grievance, promptly ventilated it at ; the rijght mb^, ment. They fell foul of McLaren, 7 arid the ■ "boss, " as it subsequently 'transpired; ac^ : tuaUy instigated tne movement that led to the expulsion of the unruly agitators.. Nor, after these delegates had been expelled, and the Wellington Union disfranchised, would the Conference relent It declined to pay heed to a deputation of ' members of the Union because it' wasnot properly constituted, and because David McLaren had not, as paid secretary, called a meeting to discuss the situation. Everything, ft seemed, came Davy's way. Against him had been made allegations that he' refused' to answer, and he sought, as he thought, to justify his. high-handed action at a meeting of the union held during the week. At that meeting, which was. a record one, McLaren moved a vote of censure, on Messrs Jones and McCahn for what Davy considered, if he did not call, their misconduct at the recent Conference. He charged the delegates with unseemly conduct at the Conference, but the Union, by a majority, declined to censure their delegates, and indirectly upneld the course of conduct pursued by Messrs Jones and McCann. ■ • ■ ' Thus David was censured himself ; but more remains. ' One Casey, of Napier, had allowed himself tb' be used to move at the Conference that the ' two obnox- . ious delegates should be expelled. At this union meeting Mr Casey was present and was, it is said,, ready and willing to declare that the suggestion lor the motion of expulsion was mooted by Mr McLaren'. This statement, on Casey's part was rendered unnecessary as McLaren admitted that he had done so, with the reservation that the action he took was m the interests of ' the union. "Truth" does not think it necessary to labor this matter. Sufficient has been said and proved that McLaren is nothing else than a shifty Laborite. As a secretary of a Labor union lie ' is found acting as traitor to the interests or - the wharf worker, arid what can be expected of him m the more important sphere oi active Parliamentary life? McLaren, by his utterances and his conduct, has attracted a great deal of attention; lately and David's Democratic-stocks must have fallen considerably. Da¥id the dubious m his role of Labor M.P., will be a difficult problem to solve. Perhaps he will solve it by selling himself to the highest bidder. We will watch- and WaW " : The "Mangaweka Settler" heads an article "Another' Customs; Hall." "Critic" never knew the Customs went m for building halls or .. entertaining the public,. Where is the aaU^ anrhow X